An organization from Columbus called Chiller has been hired by Clark County Commissioners to manage Springfield's downtown ice arena. The group is owned and operated by the majority owner of the Columbus Blue Jackets professional hockey team.
The 12-year $8.5 million ice rink project recently got a huge boost when the Chiller group signed a five-year contract to handle day-to-day operations.
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Trail and Parks District, Leann Costello, is pleased with the arrangement.
"We are Parks and Recreation but we are not experts in the area of ice sports, so the idea was brought forth that maybe we should partner with one of these groups that are the experts and they can come in and run all of the programs and the arena. To us, that puts us at least three years ahead of where we would be,"
The ice rink, located between Main and High Streets,is the last part of the district’s $17 million, 10 year plan to revitalize Springfield. Costello says a special event will be held next week to celebrate the indoor ice rink's completion.
The new ice rink is scheduled to open in October and will initially create nearly 20 jobs.